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Purchase, refinance index rises 0.6%

Its gauge of applications to purchase and refinance homes increased 0.6 percent, to 621.4. The purchase index rose 1 percent, to 444.8.

The group's measure of applications to refinance loans fell 0.1 percent, to 1648.8.

Applications to refinance mortgages made up 36.8 percent of the total index, down from 37.1 percent a week earlier. Refinancing, which had been a source of extra cash for homeowners in 2003, has fallen 60 percent over the past year as higher mortgage rates make it less lucrative for homeowners.

"As fixed mortgage rates have stabilized, so have mortgage applications," said Steven Wood, president and principal economist at Insight Economics LLC in Danville, Calif.